


palaces out of paragraphs.

by windmireking



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alcohol, Drabble Collection, Drinking to Cope, Implied Sexual Content, Internalized Transphobia, M/M, Mentions of past abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Pregnancy, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, chapter notes have exact warnings when they come up, mentions of past ryouma / scarlet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9723707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windmireking/pseuds/windmireking
Summary: you built me palaces out of paragraphsyou built cathedralsi will no longer be updating this with future drabbles.a collection of drabbles written for leo / ryouma - to be updated when i write a new one.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> gonna try and update this regularly as a writing warm up but ... who knows. i'm sorry i haven't written ch 3 of fate changes hands or finished the love / blood series...
> 
>  
> 
> leo scratches out phantoms of his past and pens a future.

leo stands in front of his desk, chair pushed haphazardly back as he tends to something he should have done all too long ago. a pen is clutched tightly in his hand as he scratches out his name, his birth name and corrin. neither name sits well with him any more. 

he swipes his hand across his cheek, feeling the slight chill as ink is smeared across porcelain skin. the king pays no attention as he continues to add information to the book, turning the page and carefully laying out the next chart.

the pen's scratching is the only sound in the room aside from leo's soft breaths, delicately crafting the box that holds his name and adds his birthdate – june 30 – underneath the cleanly penned leo. it doesn't take much more time to draw up the line signifying ryouma and his marriage and their children. 

forrest is penned in as leo's legitimate child, not a child born out of wedlock - from mistakes the man had made. shiro is truly their legitimate child, and both of their lovely children share leo's dirty blond locks. 

he sighs, cleaning the ink from the tip of his pen and sat back down, capping the ink and looking over the pages. 

the nohrian king finds the information agreeable now, before swearing under his breath and flipping the page back to scratch out camilla's name, her wish to be forgotten in nohrian history. leo does not agree with it, that she must leave a legacy, but she did not want her legacy to be of the death and bloodshed their shared path is steeped in. 

leo completely understands. he lives for nohr, and the nohr of his children. he wants to make their world a better place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> when you should sleep but you get a plot bunny and just had to write something out 
> 
>  
> 
> revelations path, pre leo/ryouma

leo finds him cleaning raijinto, the blade's sparks absent for once. ryouma doesn't have much of his armour on, and it's how leo knows something is wrong. 

the nohrian prince settles down in front of his friend ( his friend who makes his heart pound and butterflies bump in his stomach, and makes him act like a lovesick teenage girl ) and frowns. “ i have the feeling that fight really shook you up. “ he starts, watching how ryouma cleans the blade and oils it. it is a holy weapon, as brynhildr is, so leo has never seen the samurai sharpen his weapon. 

“ i assume you could say that. “ ryouma answers after a moment, two strokes of the cloth down the blade before he does. “ i saw her. “ 

“ her? pardon me, prince ryouma, but i am afraid i do not know who you mean. “ leo shifts, scooting closer to the other, taking in the bags under his eyes, and how messy his hair is. it is unrulier than usual, and leo has the desire to run his fingers through and attempt to soothe away ryouma's worry. 

“ scarlet. “ it makes sense why he's so upset. “ she was one of his puppets. “ terror tints his tone, and leo doesn't blame him at all for it. leo doesn't voice the question – why seeing her like that scares him so much that he's still so shaken. it is a long fight, and it will only get worse from here. 

“ you – you loved her, didn't you? “ leo asks softly. unease curls in his gut and he stamps it down angrily. 

it is a longer time before he answers that question. “ yes. “ 

“ i'm here for you, if you need to talk. “ leo reaches out to place a hand on ryouma's thigh, looking up at him with a determined stare. 

“ thank you, prince leo. “ ryouma smiles and the tension eases off him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written when i was like half asleep oops at 5 am
> 
> anways, leo's implied to be trans,

leo tells him about the nightmares. they are always blurs, colours, scents and sounds. they do not make sense each time, but the ones that do are the ones that have leo shaking in his bedclothes. ryouma worries. 

though, it seems to be doing the boy some good, the younger prince of nohr standing straighter, more relaxed. it is not the practiced puppetry of someone who wills himself to be strong, but someone who is genuinely more calmer. his knife sharp mind has only been ground sharper by the lack of the burden his nightmares leave. 

leo is stunning. ryouma is starstruck by how he changes day by day. kamui orders them to pair up because leo does not have that strong of a defense, and even at range, they are a deadly pair. ryouma has learned from the first time he has fought beside leo that the prince has earned every single fraction of his reputation.

the fact such magic was contained in the boy's tall, curvy frame terrifies ryouma. dark magic unsettles him – it is nothing like the magic of hoshido. even the magic worked by a nohrian healer is tainted with their art. leo's hands are soaked in blood, and he is a knight of red. 

leo is a devil on the battlefield, magic tearing through their enemies when raijinto's steel and lightning cannot bite. ryouma is thankful for his presence. 

he finds himself slowly forgetting about scarlet, leo's presence a balm on his woes. he finds himself drawn to the other, and they converse softly over their meals about what leo's been reading or how their childhoods differed. 

it is why leo's screams terrify him the one night to the point that his fears go immediately to something horrifying happening to him. ryouma thinks of how he had been unable to prevent scarlet's death, and how it still weighs heavily on his conscious.

ryouma cannot bear the idea of being the reason no one had been there to save leo from his fate. it is only after he sees leo upright in his bed, rigid as a stick, that he made a big mistake. 

leo does't seem to care that the bedroom door is knocked off its hinges, or that his body is bared on display to the other. ryouma doesn't judge leo as he pulls the sheets up to cover himself. it makes sense, that his hips ar eso wide and his chest always seems bulky for his slender build. 

leo is still a prince, and ryouma knows that after leo asks him to stay, wanting ryouma's presence in the room. the door is fixed with a sleepy wave of his hand. 

ryouma finds himself nodding off, leo against his side as he lies on the covers to put distance between himself and leo. he falls to sleep's warm embrace as he realizes he loves leo. 

he doesn't mind at all. loving the beautiful prince, as it draws his mind away from scarlet. ryouma doesn't mind if the rest of his life is spent at leo's side.


	4. letters i

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a note - my interpretation of leo has been that he is a transman, and has been for almost a year now. leo is not a woman, and never has been. leo's dysphoria is written from my own personal experience as a transman. i have written him as gay from when i started to write leo, but adding on more of my personal development has fleshed him out a bit more, as well as i do rather like writing myself some more representation.

greetings, king ryouma of hoshido - 

 

my sincerest apologies to the time it has taken me to send this correspondence to your last letter. my brother has been hard at work dealing with the new laws i have been putting in place and taking more of the blows that would stain my reputation. honestly, i do not think i could bear this crown without his and his retainer's assistance. 

i have been weeding out those that have allied themselves with my father during the war; making my life more difficult in the process, as i have had to sentence several war criminals that had been of great use to nohrian forces, leaving my country on the weaker side. hoshido's alliance is more important than ever before, and i thank you and kamui greatly for efforts in how peace treaties are coming along. 

i look forward to hosting you and your siblings within the coming month here at castle krakenburg, even as repairs are going on. hopefully there will only be a few more years of reconstruction. even with kamui's orders that the conflicts be resolved with as little harm done to nohrian forces as possible, but that was a fool's belief. many of the soldiers that survived and retained their loyalty to my father have since then lost their heads. 

i heard that your advisors have been pressuring you to find a spouse to rule beside you. the rumours carry here through the vine, after all. i have heard that the nohrian rebel that joined your forces later in the war is in public favour of being your queen. i only have to laugh, no one has dared attempt to pressure me into looking for a queen, to only which i am grateful for. i theorize they fear being the next drops of blood on an executioner's axe blade to attempt. i would rather work on uprooting the deep seated corruption in the nohrian forces and fix my country's poor economy over courting some pretty little thing to be my bride. 

that, and it seems quite unneeded, for other personal reasons that i shall not disclose over a letter. 

his royal excellence,   
king leo

 

to the bloody king leo of nohr,  
the absence of a response was to be expected. after all, i am not the king of a war ruined land. hoshido is faring much better, as most of the damage done to our lands was done by those that were not man. those wretched faceless do not have the brilliance to use fire, or other tactics, to do more damage than what they can do with fists or feet.   
you have another brother other than marx? i was unaware of this. i assumed that both of the retainers on the battlefield had been yours, as your siblings had two each. please, correct me if i am wrong on this front.   
it is good to hear that you are making some progress already, having only been king for a few months. i doubt you ever expected to rule, what with the sibling in front of you being the heir in favour, but war is unpredictable as you and i both know. you showed your colours of being ruthless to our forces during the war, but i had sensed you had been holding back against us in that dark swamp you so lovingly chose to take us on in.   
i am looking forward to not having to carry my arms and expect a battle at every turn. your castle is quite unsettling, for the lack of a better describing word, even at its best. but, then again, the time i have spent within those walls have been on hostile terms, and we did not leave it in the best of shapes, especially that throne room, but we are not the only forces to blame on that front. there was also the concern of a rather large lizard. and i do not mean kamui.  
you are not wrong that my advisors wish for me to take a bride, yet as you are, i am not concerned about courting so soon after conflict. yes, the chevois rebel that joined our forces is seen in favour of being my queen, but alas, we do not share more than a platonic bond forged in the flames of war. she seems more interested in the conquest of my siblings' hearts, rather than my own. i say this, because both kamui and hinoka seem to be interested in her.  
that does sound intriguing. if i may be so inclined to ask, do i get to hear the reasoning from my fellow king once i see him again, or shall i be treated to an unanswered enigma?

king ryouma.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> leo has issues looking at himself in the mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit more sexually explicit than others, but i don't think it is enough to raise the rating, heavily implied past abuse + internalized transphobia.

leo stands tall, facing a mirror with a clear determination on his features, lips set in a firm line as he drags his hands over his bare body. his fingers move over his breasts, feeling how firm they are, past soft nipples, darker than they had been the last time he had studied himself so closely. 

war is hell, and it is clear from the scarring on his torso. the soft flesh there is marred by the scars of brynhildr's branches digging into his flesh as punishment for the tome's very use and the knife that had dug into his skin to cut the plants free. 

there are the lightning ingrained marks in his skin that trace up over his body and onto his chest, the scar left by the jaws and fangs of the sacred blade of hoshido. he bears burns from the one time he begged his brother to use siegfried in a sparring match – it left him with dark splotchy burn scars across his left shoulder blade and upper back. 

he wonders when his body had become such a mess. he hates it. he can't forget his past, act like nothing is wrong. he wishes that his armour could have only been ceremonial, that his skills were learned from tradition only. part of him wishes that he had stayed his mother's perfect daughter, staying unchanging with perfect milky skin like porcelain and lovely gold locks. 

leo knows that if he had been forced to carry that persona of lily, he would have spread his legs for anyone who would give him the time of day, that weren't there out of obligation. that they'd pound his pussy and grope his breasts until they came inside him, making a mess of a bastard's self as always. he would ruin what was forced upon him and tear it to pieces. he has done so anyways. 

his hands pause, settling on his stomach, cupping it as if there is a child within him and a softer smile takes place on his face. his mind recalls the love given to each of leo's scars, every sweep of large hands roughened by years of practice in his art to relax him. raijinto has robbed ryouma of the feeling in his hands, leaving the skin blackened and dead. leo knows the pain and twitch of lightning puppet-ed fingers. mjolnir has left scarring up his forearms, though they are veins of silver in comparison to the lines of charcoal in ryouma's tan skin. 

ryouma has helped leo recover from the end of the war in a way leo cannot ever voice. their courting has been political as much it has been personal. he stands now as ryouma's fiance, two kings set to be wed before the year is up. it has been leo's insistence that they do not shy away from seeing each other with nothing between them. ryouma had begrudgingly complied but at first he had kept those damned elbow length gloves on during their first night. he could see the pale fractal scars lace up his bicep and over his shoulder, and leo had not been prepared for how damaged his hands were, but he is a healer, and having scars is only natural after a trauma, or years of it. 

ryouma loved him from the start, although before their interactions had simply remained as enemies, leo's skin a canvas for raijinto's biting blow, ryouma's dark fingers trace over the braches of fractals as they lie together in a shared bed, hoshido's morning light spilling over their naked bodies. leo is thankful for the reassurance that his body is a man's, how every bit is just as manly as the last. his breasts and his stomach and his pussy. leo forgets his issues when ryouma's mouth is on him, fingers making him feel oh so good.

the memory has a twinge of pleasure running through his nerves to gather in his stomach as warm coals to light a fire. it is all too easy for leo to feel good, and it is not hard to imagine ryouma's hands touching him in place of his own. it is erotic to watch his cheeks flush and lips part at the thought of his lion. 

leo moans again as he thinks of his lover, thinks about giving them heirs. he imagines feeling himself swell with a baby and it only adds to the fire. the king of nohr, carrying a child for the king of hoshido – his belly swollen and breasts getting ready to feed their child. 

the door opens behind him, and he doesn't have to turn or take his eyes off his own reflection as he touches himself to know it is ryouma. firm hands slip around his waist, a kiss pressed to his neck. 

“ getting all wound up for me, and i'm not even here? leo. “ the tone is playfully scolding and leo laughs as ryouma scoops him up and carries him to their bed. ryouma peppers his cheeks with kisses and leo returns the affection in kind, laughing as ryouma strokes his hair and kisses him, the nohrian's legs on either side of his hips. 

“ sorry, ryouma. “ leo giggles, pressing against ryouma's hips, feeling a hand move to rub against his hip as leo kisses him, laughing softly as ryouma takes him, helping him forget what worried his mind only moments before.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an actual under 100 words drabble for these losers.

leo watches ryouma pen something he can't read. ryouma says that it is poetry. leo's nose scrunches when he admits he can't read it. ryouma laughs, replying that he'll learn to read in time. leo laughs, shoving at his shoulder as he teases his boyfriend about what he has been treated to. the high prince of hoshido flushes in embarrassment at the reminder of the erotic poetry that he has penned for leo, but laughs all the same.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally adding in some parental leo and ryouma its Time
> 
> friendly reminder leo is a transman and shiro is their biological son without the use of magic.

ryouma cries the first time he holds shiro. the tiny baby is dwarfed almost hilariously in his father's hands and leo blinks sleepily at ryouma's side. leo loves how soft ryouma is to his family, the difference so wide between ryouma in battle and leo's lion. ryouma bubbles about how tiny their little heir is, and how proud he is of their son. leo sleepily listens and nods in agreement. he has loved their little one for months now, and he is so happy to finally be able to hold their child close.


	8. empty chairs and empty tables.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> originally written for ryouma's birthday oops.
> 
> a follow up to chapter 2 because i love pain and suffering aka ryoscar in a tragic romance and leo there for ryouma to help heal. 
> 
>  
> 
> still pre leo/ryouma  
>  
> 
> warning for alcohol use.

leo finds him easily – the time they've been allies has allowed him to grow closer to the nohrian prince. leo is easy to like, if he lets you get close. the younger nohrian prince is full of fangs and claws, and there is that ever hanging malevolence that is sourced from the craft he works. leo is very much a feline like ryouma. 

he is glad they are allies. he is sure that if they were enemies, leo wouldn't blink and hesitate with the subject of death to hoshidans. he is glad leo picked him as a friend, let him into his life. 

the prince is without a majority of his regalia, dark plates shed, leaving him in that form fitting undershirt. without his armor, leo looks soft, but there is the promise of power in his body. without that extra weight, leo looks like he is ready to give. 

“ i'm sorry. “ leo speaks softly, sitting beside him, and ryouma notices the closeness. leo does not sit this close to someone he does not feel close to – he sees there is a bottle in his hand and leo purses his lips as he uncorks it. “ you lost your father again. “ his pretty brow furrows as he takes a swig of the contents and holds it out to the uncrowned king. 

ryouma knows he shouldn't take solace in drink, but he is not to refuse the offer from leo. 

he takes it, taking a sip and the alcohol's taste is foreign to him. he is not one to drink nohrian wine, for what need has he had to? they've been enemies for so long. it burns a bit going down, leaving a dry aftertaste. the wine is warm. 

“ it is alright. i have said my farewell to him, at least. “ ryouma's voice sounds distant, and he can hardly register it, even with the rumble in his throat. 

leo's pretty voice rings out, arm looping under the lion's and hooking up, pulling himself close in a gesture ryouma has never seen him do. his little sister – yes, but leo intentionally distances himself from all others. 

his face feels hot, and the heat grows as leo rests his cheek against the other's shoulder. he can't see his face.  
“ it's okay. you don't have to be strong right now. “ his voice is soft, and ryouma is surprised. seductive venom-honey isn't there, no tone that is strong and brash, barrelling sarcasm like arrows through cloth armour. 

leo's guard is down. 

leo, the prince of nohr known for a personality like thick ice, is resting against him without a second though, without suspicion. 

when did they get this close? 

ryouma allows himself to relax as well, slumping back against the ruin castle's wall, passing the drink back to the younger man. leo is special.

“ thank you. “ the man responds, and leo takes a sip of wine. it is long, but there is still plenty left in the bottle. 

they share the drink in silence, leo providing comfort in the eerie quiet of valla.

**Author's Note:**

> ive decided not to update this one with future drabbles, mostly because i've been working on a longer writing project, and that any future drabbles will be in a newer work entry.


End file.
